Primeval 1: Nostalgia
by SapphireDarkSky
Summary: Emily Merchant has finally decided to return back to the ARC with Matt. All they wanted was to be together, but there is something lurking in the shadows of London... Something that will tear the team apart, and shake London to its roots. But what is it?
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Primeval – Chapter 1: The Beginning**

"_**P**_lease come back with me." I looked away at Matt's pleading voice. His eyes were desperate. I didn't know where I belonged. I, Emily Merchant from the year 1868 who lived with her husband who she didn't truly love and was forced to marry by her father in the Victorian era. I had found an anomaly, a portal in time and had passed through it from my own time to the future. I had feelings for Matt. Matt Anderson from the future and not the present. I wanted to be with him, but what if he left me? What would I do then? I couldn't go back to Henry, my cruel husband.

"I really missed you Emily." Matt said quietly. I forced my brown eyes to look into his blue eyes. We were in the Victorian era, my own time. Matt had come through an anomaly following a raptor that had strayed through the anomaly into my time. Matt had known that the anomaly went back to the 1800's. Did he go after the raptor or for me? Or both, perhaps? Matt took a step forward and placed a gentle kiss on the corner of my mouth, tears streaming down my cheeks as I knew we had to part once again. He gave me one last longing look, before turning and walking down the staircase towards the anomaly. I watched the shards of time dancing in the air, linking to the present. Matt stepped through, swallowed up by the shards and melting away. I heard a foot land heavily on the top step of the staircase. Henry's eyes flashed furiously, his fists clenched. He raised his gun and aimed it at me, trembling. I backed away very slowly towards the anomaly. I saw his finger pull back on the trigger and made a leap towards the anomaly. A bullet whistled through the air towards me and I collapsed into the present.

_**I**_ lay in what I think they call an art gallery. Matt spun around and stared at me, surprised. He rushed over to me and crouched beside me. He leaned over and placed his hands on my shoulders, his eyes full of concern.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. He noticed the bullet hole in my suit and picked out a piece of it.

"Your own outfit saved you." Matt said, smiling down at me. I smiled back, relieved. I then saw a figure stagger through the anomaly. It was Henry! He aimed his gun at Matt, furious.

"Matt!" I shrieked. Matt whipped around and stared in astonishment as Henry aimed his gun at him. Terror shot through me. Suddenly, a man clad in black, who I recognised to be Captain Becker, leaped out of no-where and aimed his huge 21st century gun at Henry. Henry, his gun still aimed at Matt, stared in astonishment at Becker. Becker pulled his trigger and Henry collapsed, lifeless. Matt gave Becker a grateful look and helped me up. It was time to go back to the ARC, the Anomaly Research Centre where people like Matt and Becker worked to track down anomaly's and prehistoric, or the occasional futuristic creatures. It was time to go back where I truly belonged, with Matt.

"_**Y**_ou're back!" Jess wrapped her arms around me in a warm embrace. I had developed a friendship with Jess in my past time at the ARC, and we got on well together. I guess she hadn't expected me to be coming back to the ARC.

"Matt really missed you, you know." Jess glanced behind me, as if to check that Matt wasn't there. He was gone. I wanted to speak to Matt alone.

Jess went back to her computer and I saw this as my chance to find Matt. I walked up a few stairs and down the corridor. I saw Matt walking out of a room, a solemn look on his face.

"Can I speak to you?" I asked. Matt looked at me, his expression changing. His expression was gentle and loving as he stepped towards me.

"Can we go to your flat?" I asked, wanting to speak with him privately.

"Sure," he replied with a smile.

"_**I**_ just wanted to say how sorry I am, for not staying with you." I said, looking into Matt's blue eyes. And I really was sorry. Matt really missed you, you know. I recalled Jess's words she'd said to me earlier that day. I regretted hurting his feelings.

"It's fine," he replied, his blue eyes gentle. I was relieved that he had forgiven me. Matt stepped towards me, a strange look in his eyes.

"Emily, I need to tell you something. I really-" He trailed off as his phone vibrated in the pocket of his jeans. He took his phone out and answered it, silent as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

"I'll be right there," Matt returned his phone and started towards the door.

"An anomaly's been detected," he explained as I followed him out of the flat and towards his car.

"Emily, Abby, Becker, come with me." Matt ordered. Becker frowned at me as my name was mentioned.

"I don't think that's a good-"

"If I say she can come, than she can come." Matt interrupted sharply.

"Right," Becker said, with a slow nod.

"Emily, good to have you back." A voice boomed. It was James Lester, head of the ARC.

"Thanks," I replied with a smile. Lester scanned his gaze over the team before spinning on his heel, hands behind his back, and strode towards Jess, who was staring at a computer screen. The anomaly alert was blaring.

"It's located in the park," Jess said, half to herself. Lester gave her a nod and started towards his office.

"Quickly then, before the whole of London is swarming with dinosaurs," Lester said in a sarcastically bright voice as he made his way towards his office.

_**T**_he team stood armed in the middle of the park. A couple of children were running and shrieking around a barbeque. The sound of sizzling meat on a barbeque would surely attract the creature if it was a meat eater.

"Ok, stay together." Matt advised, walking across the park to the forest on the other side. I then recognised the anomaly, its swirling shards reflecting on the ground. The team froze at the sound of a loud, angry roar from above. Wait, above? The team looked upwards and saw a huge cat with large curved fangs crouching on the branch of a tree above us.

"A smilodon!" Abby exclaimed, her blue eyes wide. The smilodon's sleek, mottled brown coat rippled in the sunlight and its fangs gleamed.

"Stay back," Matt ordered, backing away with his gun aimed at the smilodon.

"Let's see if we can coax it back through the anomaly," Abby suggested.

"And how exactly will we do that?" Becker muttered doubtfully. The team exchanged glances as the sizzling sound not faraway got louder.

"Meat," Matt said, ordering Becker and Abby to keep watch and me to come with him. Matt and I ran out of the forest towards the barbeque. A man was handing out sausages to the children. The man turned and stared in shock at our guns. He grabbed a hot dog and held out to us as if he were feeding lions.

"Thanks," Matt grabbed the hot dog and ran back to the anomaly. The smilodon was sniffing the air at the smell of meat.

"Hey!" Matt yelled, waving the hot dog in the air. The smilodon looked down at him and snarled before taking a huge leap and landing on the ground in front of us. Becker was poised to strike and Abby's blue eyes were wide with shock. Matt walked towards the anomaly and stood in front of it, waving the hot dog like a trophy. The smilodon took a step toward him, then roared and spun around, its huge brown paw knocking into me. I fell to the ground, the breath knocked of me by the impact.

"EMILY!" I heard Matt yelling my name, his voice choked with terror. I turned my head slowly, wincing in pain. The smilodon charged in the direction of the barbeque, Becker and Abby running after it. Matt crouched beside me, his hands on my cheeks. I felt a pain in my side and closed my eyes tight, trying to ignore the pain.

"Emily?" Matt said quietly, tucking a wisp of my brown hair behind my ear. I opened my eyes and looked into his own, taking a deep breath. I winced at the sound of a gunshot. Matt leaned down and kissed my forehead. I wrapped my arms around him, the shock of my fall slowly melting away. He helped me up, his arm wrapped around my waist. Abby returned, saying that Becker had shot the smilodon. We all helped drag it through the anomaly. The anomaly swirled and shrank until it disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2: Jaws

**Primeval – Chapter 2: Jaws**

"_**R**_eally, are you hurt?" Jess asked, her blue eyes full of concern. The team had just returned from the smilodon encounter. I had just explained my own experience with the smilodon. Becker was talking to Matt, gesturing towards me and looking at him disapprovingly. It was hard to tell what Matt was thinking. He had a blank expression on his face. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but eventually Matt took a deep breath and held up his hand, stop-style and said a few words to Becker, who said something in reply and walked away towards the armoury. Matt looked at me, a guilty look on his face, before he turned and hurried down the corridor.

"Emily?" I turned back towards Jess. She was looking at me confusedly.

"I'm fine, really," I replied, giving Jess what I hoped was a confident smile. I was relieved when Jess smiled back and said, "Great!" I was surprised by what she said next.

"I wish Becker would look at me the same way Matt looks at you." She sighed pitifully, staring in the direction of the armoury. I decided I would have to find Matt again. I really wish he would stop running off. I thought with annoyance. It seemed that whenever I wanted to talk to him, he would disappear.

"Maybe you should tell him how you feel," I suggested. Maybe Jess had tried, but Becker was clueless. Jess frowned at me, confused.

"And how would I tell him?" She asked, sitting back down at the computer and propping her chin in her hands, staring at the computer screen. I thought about that. Even I couldn't answer my own question. Good one Emily. I was about to suggest if she had tried dropping any hints but Jess beat me to it.

"I've tried everything," she murmured, staring aimlessly at the computer screen.

I put my hand on her shoulder, sad for my friend.

"He'll figure it out," I said, trying to reassure her. Jess didn't look convinced.

"Have you seen Rex?" Jess and I both turned around to see Abby , who looked flustered.

"What is he again?" Jess asked, frowning.

"A coelurosauravus," Abby replied. Jess looked lost, she probably had no idea what a coa- I won't even bother spelling it out, was.

"No, we haven't sorry," I said. Abby gave us a weak smile before turning and running up the corridor.

"Found him!" I heard someone call. It was Matt, I recognised his Irish accent. A green lizard zoomed down into the room, making chattering noises as he spread his wings out and soared around the room. I smiled and watched the coa- uh, the lizard as he flew towards Abby and landed on her shoulder with a happy chattering noise. Abby grinned and put Rex in his cage before making her way to the menagerie. Matt appeared out of the corridor and walked towards me.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked, and of course, I said yes. He led me down the corridor and into one of the rooms. The room was mostly empty, so it must have been a spare room.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have made you come," Matt said, looking guilty.

"It's fine," I said, slightly confused. I hadn't been hurt very badly, so there wasn't really any reason for him to be worried.

"You could have been hurt badly," Matt said with a frown.

"Well I wasn't, was I?" I replied, a little sharper than I had intended.

"Emily, I want you to be safe, I don't want to lose you again," he said, despite the way I had spoken to him before.

"I can look after myself!" I snapped, annoyed. Matt frowned, then taking my face in his hands, kissed me. He pulled away and examined my face. I gave him a smile, a bit shocked.

"I'm sorry, for the way I've been acting lately." I said, hugging him and hoping that he would forgive me.

"It's fine, it's all fine."

"_**W**_hat have we got?" Becker asked, narrowing his eyes at the computer screen. Jess frowned as the anomaly alert blared.

"It's at the pier,." Jess replied, frowning. Matt marched down the corridor and frowned at the computer screen as well.

"Ok, Becker, Abby, Connor…" Matt looked around and frowned at me. He arched his eyebrow, as if to ask if I wanted to come after my experience with the smilodon.

"And Emily," he said hesitantly.

"Becker," Jess called hesitantly as the team turned to leave. Becker halted and turned towards Jess, arching his eyebrow.

"Please be careful." She said, looking slightly embarrassed. Becker nodded confusedly before turning and walking away with the rest of the team. It was time to find this creature.

_**T**_he team surveyed the pier. Water slapped at the shore and bridges stretched out above the rippling water. Large rocks stood scattered around the shore and pebbles were tossed around in the small waves.

"So, uh, where do you think this anomaly is?" Connor asked, flipping a pebble over with his foot.

"Anywhere," Matt replied without looking at him, pacing along the shore.

"Well where do we start?" Abby said with a frown.

"Emily and Becker, you can come with me," Matt gave Abby and Connor their instructions and the two set off together down the shore. Matt, Becker and I hadn't gone far when a rumbling sound erupted beneath the water. The water shivered and sent ripples towards us which turned into larger waves that crashed into the shore. The white foam hissed and slid backwards as new waves rolled forward. Becker had his gun aimed at the water. Matt was scanning his gaze across the water for any signs of a creature. Meanwhile, Abby and Connor patrolled the other side of the shore.

"If I don't come back, you can have my iPod," Connor joked as he walked along the shore.

"I'll treasure it," Abby replied with a smile.

"On second thoughts, you'd better bury it with me," Connor said. The two spun around as a loud roar ripped through the air. A huge crocodile-like creature leaped from the water, causing a huge wave to crash onto the shore into Connor and Abby. Matt and the others on the other side of the shore turned, alarmed by the roar. They ran towards the roar, shocked to see Connor and Abby staggering as fast as they could out of the water.

Their sodden clothes clung to themselves as they collapsed onto the shore, panting.

"Where did it go?" Matt demanded as he approached Abby.

"Kaprosuchus,"

Abby murmured as she sat up and pointed to where she has seen the creature before falling onto her back.

"Ok, Emily and Becker you come with me and Connor and Abby, you can rest or if you're up to it, look for the anomaly," Matt gestured to Becker and I and jogged along the shore to the pier. Then something dawned on me, a thought that hadn't occurred to me until just now. We were struggling to find the anomaly, and a place we hadn't checked was the water…

"What if it's in the water, the anomaly?" I said as I jogged up to Matt's side. Matt stopped halfway down the pier and stared at me.

"Then we'll find it, somehow," He replied with a frown.

"Nobody move!" Becker hissed. I froze, wondering what was wrong. I turned and looked at him, watching as he followed something with his gun. I watched in horror as the water parted to reveal the back of the kaprosuchus. It slid back beneath the water out of sight. Everyone stood completely still, the sound of the waves slapping the shore seeming louder than usual. If you have heard the theme song from the movie Jaws, which is apparently a well-known movie in this time, than you would have expected to hear it in the background. Time seemed to slow down as the kaprosuchus leaped out of the water over the pier, so close that you barely needed to reach out to touch it…

_**A**_ huge wave crashed onto the pier, washing Matt, Becker and I with it. Salty sea-water filled my mouth and nose and felt the wave carrying me to the shore. The wave dumped me on the shore, and I began to have a sort of choking fit. My sodden hair clung to my face and I hated the way my drenched clothes made me colder and colder as time went by. I felt a hand on my shoulder and twisted around to see Matt, who was in a similar state to me.

"Are you alright?" He spluttered, before letting out a cough. I couldn't help it, I didn't want to but I had to. I threw up, feeling slightly better as I rid the water from my lungs.

I felt sorry for Matt having to see it though. I looked into his eyes, and saw fear and worry. And I knew right then, that he would he would never let me go.


	3. Chapter 3: XOXO

**Primeval – Chapter 3: XOXO**

I flipped open what might be called a "phone". I couldn't really figure out what all the little buttons meant, but Matt had taught me to the best of his ability. How the 21st century confused me. The only thing I missed about my time was that it didn't seem as complicated. It was odd to not hear the clip-clopping of horses' hooves as it pulled a carriage down a dusty road. Everything was odd and out of place. I squinted at the screen and tried to decode a message that Matt had sent me.

_Come 2 flat at 6. Xoxo_

I tried to remember what I was meant to do next. Which button did I press? I was tempted to throw the stupid thing to the ground when Jess attempted to run past in her high heels. She staggered towards me and straightened up, brushing the hair from her eyes.

"Have you seen Becker?" She panted, before muttering something under her breath.

She was always wondering where Becker was, and it was actually quite amusing.

"And exactly how many times have you asked that already?" A familiar voice boomed. It was Lester stalking towards us.

"And where is Matt, he better not be having tea parties with futuristic predators!" He scowled.

"And I can't put Becker in charge because he'll blow up the whole of London!" Lester growled something under his breath before stiffening and spinning on his heel and marching towards his office. Jess frowned and walked over to her desk. I wondered what Matt was doing and looked at my phone again.

Come 2 flat at 6. Xoxo

I didn't bother replying, the labyrinth of symbols just confused me.

Becker walked past on his way to the armoury and Jess, having noticed him, leaped to her feet and stumbled towards him.

"Becker!" She called. Becker stopped and looked at her, frowning. Jess stopped in front of him, and paused awkwardly. There was an awkward silence as Becker and Jess stared at each other. Jess couldn't hold back any longer and kissed him. Becker looked shocked as Jess pressed her lips to his. I felt a flash of happiness for my friend, but a twinge of sadness as well, and a longing to be with Matt. Becker stumbled backwards as Jess pulled away and pointed towards the armoury with his thumb.

"I got… I have… security," Becker stammered, looking like he was going to be sick before turning and stumbling towards the armoury. Jess looked as if she had won the lotto, but then her face fell and she turned and looked at me.

"I don't think he liked that," she sighed. I tried to reassure her with a smile but it didn't seem to help much.

"Well done!" Lester called from the staircase sarcastically. Jess blushed with embarrassment and sat at her desk, staring at the computer as if in an attempt to burn holes through it.

"An anomaly could appear at any moment, but that's ok, you can kiss Becker instead." Lester continued sarcastically, a touch of amusement in his voice.

So after that , I did my best to reassure and cheer Jess up. One day, Becker would understand. But I needed to go and find out exactly what Matt had planned for the night.


	4. Chapter 4: The Wolf

**Primeval – Chapter 4: The Wolf**

_**I**_ stood in front of the door to Matt's flat, and took a deep breath. I knocked on the door and waited for a reply, wondering what Matt had planned for the night. I heard muffled sounds coming from inside the room and stepped closer, trying to hear what Matt was saying.

"Bloody match…" I heard him muttering. I frowned, confused. What on Earth was Matt doing with matches? I swung the door open and stepped inside, and nothing prepared me for what I saw. The room was very dim and there was a trail of bright pink petals leading from the door to the table. Matt was leaning over the table, trying to light a second purple candle without much luck and flinched in alarm upon noticing my presence.

"Emily, I, well, I'm kind of not ready, but-"

"What's all this for?" I asked, cutting him off and gesturing at the candles and the petals. Matt straightened up and blew out the match, a trail of smoke twirling grey and dreamlike drifted upwards from the partially-blackened match. He set it down on the table and smiled, approaching me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I thought we could have a night together, just the two of us," I smiled at him, thinking about how sweet he was when he gave me a hard, passionate kiss which I hadn't been expecting at all. The last thing I remembered was the feeling of his lips on my neck…

_**I**_woke with a start, blinking as the rays of sunlight streamed in through the windows. I rested my head back against Matt's bare chest and wondering what the time was, picked his watch up off the floor. Unable to decipher the lines and symbols, I glanced over at the box-thing that people but things called "DVD's" in. I was soon wide awake at the realization of what the time was. I placed my hands on Matt's shoulders and shook him gently, he looked so peaceful that I didn't really want to wake him up. Matt frowned in his sleep and looked like he was trying to grab something, probably thinking that I was still beside him. Feeling a flicker of frustration, I shook his shoulders more violently. Matt's eyes flew open and he blinked up at me groggily. He grinned and attempted to hug me, probably still thinking he was dreaming or something, and I pinned him down and gave him a serious look.

"Matt, it's ten o'clock!" I shrieked. Matt's eyes widened and having heard that news, appeared to be fully conscious. I quickly leaped off the couch to avoid Matt as he appeared to be having a fit of some sort.

"Where the hell is my shirt?" He shrieked. I quickly grabbed his shirt from the floor and threw it at him before he hastily tried to do up the buttons. I helped him do up the top button and looked into his eyes, not liking the worried look in his usually calm blue eyes.

"Lester's gonna kill me," he said, his voice strained with terror and I gave him a sympathetic look.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," I said in an attempt to reassure him. I turned and walked into the bathroom, turning on the tap and splashing my face with the refreshingly cool water, just what I needed. Suddenly, I froze with terror. Blood. There was blood on the bench beside the sink. Written in smudged, faint bloody writing, said:

_The wolf is coming._


	5. Chapter 5: Golden Eyes

**Primeval – Chapter 5: Golden Eyes**

_**L**_ester's eyes were narrowed coldly. Matt and I were sitting in his office, and Lester was not at all impressed with our absence.

"Do you think this is some kind of joke?" Lester hissed, his voice laced with venom, his cold eyes fixed on us. I could feel Matt shuffling uncomfortably beside me.

"This job is serious, what are we going to do when an anomaly appears and you're having a nice little tea party?" He snarled, his usually sarcastic face was twisted with a fury that I had never seen there before, it frightened me. Lester exhaled and paced behind his desk, hands clasped behind his back. I swallowed nervously and watched, waiting. Lester spun around to face us, cold blue eyes fixed on us once again.

"Go," he said weakly. His eyes were like chips of ice as he fixed his gaze on Matt.

"_You_ are staying here," he growled. I got to my feet and looked at Matt questioningly.

"I'll be fine, you go, it's not like he's going to kill me or anything," he said quietly, with a trace of doubt in his voice.

"You can only hope," Lester said coldly, with only a tiny amount of sarcasm. I frowned, wondering how on Earth he had heard Matt. I nodded once and looked at Matt and then at Lester, who returned the glance with a not-so-kind look. I whipped around and stalked out of the office, sighing and finding myself automatically walking over to Jess, who was peering at the computer screen, as usual.

"Anything to report?" I asked, voice as dull as the overcast sky.

"No, nothing," Jess replied absent-mindedly. She straightened up a moment later and looked at me, blue eyes wide.

"Oh, you're here!" She said excitedly, before arching an eyebrow questioningly. I tensed, wondering just how I was going to explain my absence to my friend when I was saved. By Rex. The little green coelurasauravus (I said it right, didn't I?) zoomed into the room and made himself comfortable on top of the computer.

Jess gave a little jump of fright, and blinked at Rex, who spread his wings out and chattered happily, strutting along the edge of the computer.

"Rex!" Abby had burst into the room, her voice full of exasperation as she marched over to him, cage in hand. Connor soon burst into the room a moment after. It looked like a bomb had gone off in his face. His black hair was sticking up at all angles and his face was coated with something that looked a bit like soot. He actually looked like he had possibly been electrocuted.

"I don't think it worked!" he exclaimed, getting Abby's attention. She spun around, her blue eyes wide with shock as she scanned her gaze over him. Connor had been trying out one of his new inventions, and it didn't take much to tell that it hadn't gone according to plan. I don't really know what his invention was, or what it was for, but I had a feeling that Connor wouldn't be trying it out again anytime soon. Abby stalked over to Rex and put him in his cage before spinning around and sighing as she approached Connor.

"Let me take a look," Connor, Abby and Rex made their way into the corridor and disappeared. Jess turned towards me and gave me a grin. I looked at her, a smile playing at the corners of my mouth.

"What?" I said confusedly, wondering why she was so… excited?

Jess handed me a small piece of folded paper. I unfolded it and squinted at the writing.

It was a party invitation. I looked at Jess, her eyes were sparkling.

"Are you implying that I accompany you to this party?" I asked cautiously. There was no point in asking, I already knew the answer.

_**I **_sat on the couch in Jess's flat, watching as she dug around in her handbag. She was wearing a silky purple dress and yes, flat shoes. It was probably the first time she had ever worn flat shoes. I was so used to seeing her stumbling around the ARC in her ridiculously high heels. I was dressed in one of Jess's old dresses, just a casual black one, nothing special. Jess had insisted that I wore make-up and that I did my hair in a fancy way etc, etc. So I did what I was told with help from the "expert" of course. Jess.

"Matt should be here any minute," she muttered, producing a small hand-held mirror and lipstick.

"Is Becker coming?" I asked, getting to my feet. He had been off work for a while, and we hadn't seen much of him. Jess paused, squinting down at the mirror before shrugging. We heard a car pull up, and Jess swung her handbag onto her shoulder, marching towards the door with myself at her heels. It was show time.

_**A**_s we entered the room, I immediately stuck closer to Matt and Jess, scanning my gaze over the huge mass of dancing bodies. It looked incredibly easy to get lost in there! Vibrant spotlights of all the colours you could imagine painted the dance floor, dried-ice smoke filled the air. The bright, flashing lights made people look like they were moving in slow motion. The music was so loud that we could hardly speak, and we had to literally scream into the other person's ear in order for them to hear you at all. Matt looked at us and mouthed the words,

"Stay together,"

Jess and I nodded in reply and we made our way carefully along the edges of the crowd, looking for Abby and Connor. Matt spotted them toward the edge of the crowd, and they waved to us cheerfully, making their way towards us. Abby tried to yell something, and Matt tried to yell something back, pointing to his ear and shaking his head. Abby frowned in annoyance and gestured at us, pointing to a quieter area in a corner of the room. And so we stepped into place behind Abby and Connor and made our way through the crowd. I kept my eyes fixed on Jess's back the whole time, terrified at being separated. Sweaty bodies brushed up against me, and someone's hair almost whipped me in the face. Suddenly, I could no longer see the shimmering purple fabric of Jess's dress, as a couple of people shoved in front of me and made their way to the other side of the crowd. My heart pounded with terror and I looked around desperately. But there was no sign of the others. I looked at the place that Abby had pointed at and took a deep breath. I'll just have to get there on my own. I thought, shoving through the crowd. Suddenly, I felt hands on my shoulders and whipped around. I realized, with horror that I was looking into the golden eyes of a stranger. The man was very lean, tall and muscular, with spiky blonde hair and lightly tanned skinned. He gave me a deadly smile and I felt my heart pounding even faster, almost in time to the beating of the music that blasted away into the night. I tried to pull away from him, giving him a look of disgust. All I wanted was to get to the others, not dance with some stranger! The strange man gave me a wink and grinned, beckoning for me to follow. I tried vainly to pull away from him again, but without much luck. His grip was like iron as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me to a darkened space away from the crowd. I was choked with terror as he pinned me up against the wall, the flashing lights lighting up his face eerily. It looked like he was moving in slow motion as his face advanced toward mine, and I realized, with terror, that his teeth were barred, but they weren't "normal" teeth. They were sharp like the teeth of a dog. His golden eyes flashed hungrily and he stopped, his forehead almost touching mine. I trembled with shock and fear as his warm breath caressed my cheek. He raised his muscular arm, and where he should have had nails, there were claws, sharp and slightly curved. His clawed hand was poised to strike, and I was completely helpless against his power. I closed my eyes, terror pulsing through me. The weight was suddenly gone, and I felt the wall vibrate. I turned, and with a mixture of horror and relief, saw Matt. He had slammed the stranger into the wall and was giving him a look of pure hatred and fury. The blonde-haired guy grinned savagely and slashed Matt's arms, his claws slicing through the sleeves of his shirt. Matt cursed and leaped back, holding his arms and gritting his teeth. The blonde-haired guy raced back into the crowd, turning to look at Matt, blonde hair gliding through the air, lips parted in a soundless, mocking laugh as he melted into the crowd.

_**J**_ess, Abby and Connor raced towards us, looks of complete terror and shock on the faces.

"What the hell?" Connor exclaimed. Matt looked at his arms. We all looked at his arms. The sleeves of his shirt were torn and bloodstained, and deep, red gashes were clearly visible. A look of pain and fury was etched on Matt's face.

"Who - was – that?" Matt growled through clenched teeth, pausing before saying each word. Becker was suddenly standing beside us. He swallowed and stepped forward.

"I - I know him," he stammered reluctantly.

"That was Jason Steele."


End file.
